Does Sports Related Acne Require Antibiotic Treatment?

Sports and exercise have many obvious advantages for your whole body, including your skin. Playing sports and exercising regularly can actually improve your skin. The increased blood flow throughout your body means that your skin is also getting more blood, and also more oxygen. Also, when you exercise, you sweat, which helps remove unwanted toxins from within your body. Unfortunately, while there are great benefits to your skin, poor hygiene and the equipment involved in playing sports can cause acne flare ups.

Are Antibiotics for Acne Necessary for Sports Acne?

Sports related acne, or acne mechanica, usually results in a flare up of small lumps that are often colorless, but can be felt. The flare up is often referred to as “sandpaper” acne, as the skin appear acne free, but if the area is touched, it feels like sandpaper. Almost anyone who takes part in sports that require tight clothing or specialized equipment can suffer from acne mechanica, but those with a predisposition to acne flare ups on their backs, shoulders, chests or buttocks and legs are that much more likely to suffer from this condition.

While initially, the flare ups are quite mild, if not treated properly, they can develop into much more severe and inflamed types of acne.

Treating Sports Related Acne Without Antibiotics for Acne

For many, the best way to treat this form of acne is to try and prevent it from occurring in the first place. Options include:

• Wearing lighter, looser, natural materials that can breathe, like cotton.
• Wearing clean cotton t-shirts and underwear under uniforms, as the cotton will absorb the sweat away from the skin and reduce the rubbing of the uniform on the skin.
• Washing immediately after playing the sport, so that sweat and dirt is removed from the body and not allowed to dry on the body and clog pores.
• If washing immediately is not an option, use a clean cotton towel to wipe away sweat.
• Apply an anti-acne treatment to any flare ups as soon as they occur.

Treating Sports Related Acne Using Antibiotics for Acne

There are many different methods of treating acne, and antibiotics are prescribed when the acne is inflamed. If sports related acne is still in the “sandpaper” acne phase, antibiotics should not be necessary to treat it. Instead, anti-acne treatments that contain salicylic acid or benzoyl peroxide should take care of the flare ups.

Should the acne flare up become inflamed, and not be controlled using over the counter medications, then antibiotics for acne related to sports may be prescribed. Acne can be treated by topical antibiotics (rubbed on to the skin) or oral antibiotics (taken by mouth in pill form). Topical antibiotics are the first option and come in varying strengths in cream, lotion, gel and liquid form. Erythromycin, clindamycin and meclocycline are common antibiotics that are included in acne medications. Their role is to kill the bacteria found within the skin causing the pimples. For moderate and severe acne, oral antibiotics or a combination of oral and topical antibiotics may be prescribed. The goal of all forms of antibiotics is to decrease the inflammation already found in the skin and to prevent any further pimples from forming.